"Risking the Kids" versus "Double the Love": Couple-counsellors in Conversation on LGB Parenting.
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: The literature on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) affirmative psychotherapy suggests that heterosexist and homophobic discourses persist in the accounts of counsellors and therapists (Milton, Coyle & Legg, 2005) and that these may particularly cohere around the issue of same-sex parenting (Moon, 1994; Phillips, et al., 2000). The current research demonstrates that this was the case in focus group discussions with counsellors working for a UK relationship therapy organisation. Many participants drew on discourses of same-sex parenting as risky, reproducing arguments about the danger of potential prejudice that such children may face and the necessity of differently gendered role models (Clarke & Kitzinger, 2005). However, these were sometimes challenged within the discussions, particularly with the offering of an alternative discourse of children of same-sex parents experiencing double the love. The potential of such discussions to resist heterosexist discourses is considered as a possible direction for counsellors on-going professional development training.
Authors: Margaret Evans, Meg Barker
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1587806290